I recently bought a two month old, un-weaned baby quaker parrot. I was told to feed him 10cc's of hand-feed formula twice a day. I boil the water, mix @ 120, and get it to <110 (and above about 106), and he eats it from the injector while I slowly squeeze it out. He weighs 95 grams. He doesn't eat pellets between meals, though.

Questions:

1. Because he doesn't eat pellets between the meals, should I add a 3rd feeding at 2:30pm (now, feedings are at 8:30am and 8:30pm)?

2. Is 10cc's ok? He only eats about 8-9 cc's, then doesn't want any more. Also, is 10cc's the same as 10ml in a syringe (without the needle, just the squirt thingy)? Is this measured after the formula has been mixed and pulled in? The food packaging I use says to feed 10-12% of birds body weight by volume. Does this mean 9.5-9.6 ml's?

Yes, I'm a terrible person for buying an unweaned bird. I didn't know any better, I'll make up for it with a lifetime of love and affection.


Johnny P.

Hi Johnny and Welcome!!


I did the same thing I bought my first QP not knowing what to do she was 4 weeks old when I got her yes feed 10ML twice a day at that age dont force him/her to eat they know when they had enough and put some millet in the cage once you see him/her nibbling on that start putting small pellets in the cage what I had to do was hand feed for a week till my bird understood what the pellets were dont stress it wont be long before he/she will be weaned they should be fully weaned between 9-12 weeks old. My birdy is now 13 weeks and shes growing great fully weaned and happy feel free to ask ANY questions

Welcome to the Forum! I can't help you on handfeeding and shame on the Breeder for selling you an unweaned bird. If I were you, I would take the bird back to the breeder and have them finish handfeeding, unless of course, by now you feel comfortable doing it. Handfeeding a bird is something I just could never do. Even tho I brought my quaker home at 8 weeks, he supposedly was finished handfeeding, but he wasn't eating food. I fed him cream of wheat from a spoon for about 2 weeks until he started eating his food. He survived and now is going on 9 years old.

i just wanted to add that i think 106 degrees (F) sounds a little too high for the formula. i think it's 102-104 degrees F. i recently went through this experience with 2 cockatiels. too high a temp can burn the crop & cause a painful burn resulting in death. i agree with the other poster--perhaps return him for a week until he is weaned. it is time consuming to had feed & very important to get it right!!!
make sure u follow all the instructions to a t.
aspirating the formula is also a common problem so u have to watch out for that too.
as for weaning at a certain point he will start to pick up food & chew on it a little. this will occur gradually, so u have to continue to offer formula even if ur bird seems to be eating on his own.
re ur q. about how many feedings, u realy have to let them eat as much as they want--unweaned babies & even newly weaned babies should never be put on a diet--they will drop the weight later.so offer a 3rd feeding if it will be productive.
if u insist on doing it urself find out all about hand feeding & weaning baby birds online there's plenty of info out there.
good luck
van

Great advice so far. As for temperature, anything between 104 and 106 is fine. You will find that most breeders feed in that area.

On a note though, you should not be mixing the formula when the water is 120 degrees. This can burn the nutrients right out of the formula. Best thing to do is let the water cool down, mix the formula, then heat it up (being sure to mix it thoroughly) or, if it works better for you, wait until the formula is down to about 110 degrees.

Things to watch for, as already mentioned, is too hot of formula, too cold of formula, and making sure the birds are eating enough food. What else are you offering besides pellets? He should have access to millet, fresh veggies, cooked brown rice, cooked whole wheat pasta. In fact, you may have a better success if you offer some warm mixed pasta, rice, cooked veggies, then add some pellets into that. The pellets will soften from the moisture of the fresh foods.

Good luck.

Ok, thanks for all the great advice so far!

I have added millet, thawed (but not cooked) corn, and pellets. I will work on adding in more tomorrow.

More Questions:

* How do I keep the food between 104 and 106 temperature? I find that once I get it at 105 or so and he eats a few cc's, that it cools down to under 100 in no time. Ugh!

* He's been nibbling at the millet all day, so I didn't know how much hand-feeding to do this evening. I believe he ate down about 4 or 5 cc's, and he's nibbling more millet now (and he's not too sure about the corn yet). Should I feed more or wait until morning? I'm really embarrassed to admit that I'm not 100% about crop sizing yet. I gently feel around the breast area, but I'm not really sure. I mostly go on the birds desire to eat. So, if the bird will take more, should I feed more?

Thanks again for all the help! I'm doing everything I can to deal with this. On another note, he's shaking around a lot when he sees me and seems as happy as can be, playing with all the toys I put in there today and clumsily fluttering around.

Johnny P.

P.S. For logistical reasons, I am unable to return to the breeder.